Improvement in bending sheet-metal pans



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

E. A. SMEAD, OF TIOGA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN vBENDING 'SH EET-METAL PANS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 17,589, dated June 1G, 1857.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, E. A. SMEAD, of Tioga, in the county of Tioga and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful device for bending over the projecting and superfluous portions of metal formed at the corners or angles of sheet-metal pans or vessels by the swaging of the same into proper form; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a vertical section of my improvement, m w, Fig. 3, showing the plane of section. Figs. 2 and 3 are elevations of the same, taken at opposite sides of the machine. Fig. 4 is a detached transverse section of the formers. Fig. 5 is a detached plan or top view of the lower former. Fig. 6 is a view of a portion of a pan or vessel. Fig. 7 is a detached transverse section of the wiring device en largcd. Fig. 8 is a detached view of the wire bent in proper form, corresponding to that of the pan or vessel.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

My invention consists in the employment or use of two levers provided with lips or jaws, and working over horizontal beds, on which the sides of the pan or vessel having the projections are placed.v The levers are connected by arms to a sliding or reciprocating bar, which is tted between suitable uprights, the whole being arranged, as will be hereinafter fully shown and described, so that the projections will be bent over and compressed snugly against the sides of the pan or vessel.

In order that the invention may be fully understood and its object and merits rendered obvious, I will rst proceed to describe, briefly, the swaging of the bodies of the pans of vessels, by which operation the projections are formed, then fully describe the bending or folding operation, and finally describe, briefly, the mode of wiring the rims or edges of the said pans or vessels.

A represents a rectangular base, on which the vertical guides B B are secured. Between these guides a frame, C, is tted and'works.

This frame is of rectangular form, and has a cam, D, fitted or placed within it. This cam is formed of a circular block; or it maybe described as a wheel placed eccentrically on a shaft, E, which passes horizontally through the guides B B and through oblong slots made in the frame C.

To the lower end of the frame C. a die or forme-r, F, is attached. V This die or former may be described as being of thev precise shape of the pan or vessel to be formed. The die or former F may be cast in a single piece. By referring to Figs. 1,8, and 4 its form will be distinctly understood. a is the bottom, which is a rectangular plane corresponding in size to thef bottom of the pan tobe formed. b are the sides, which are inclined, their upper ends,'c, projecting outward, and having their under surfaces at right angles with the inclined portions b.

It is not necessary that the die or former be solid. It may be a shell of requisite thickness to insure a proper degree of strength.

G represents the female die or former. This die is formed of a plate, d, the upper surface of which corresponds in size to the plate or bottom a of the upper die or former. To each side or edge of the plate d a side piece or strip, c, is attached by joints f f. The inner surfaces of these side pieces are planes, but their outer sides are rounded or curved, as shown more particularly in Figs. 1 anda. The plate d is attached to the upper end of a guide-block, g, which works through the base A, and has springs l1J l1. bearing against it, said springs being attached to the under sides of the base.

To the upper surface of the base A there are attached guides z'. The inner or face sides of these guides arezof rounded form, and encompass the die or former G, so that when said die or former is in anelevated state the edges of the side pieces` or strips will bear or rest upon the upper parts of the guides z', as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 3. Each side piece or strip, e, is connected by a joint, j, to the upper end of an elastic or yielding rod, 7s. The ends ofthe side pieces or strips, e, at the augles of the plate are not in contact when the pieces or strips are in a horizontal position, the ends forming angles of forty-five degrees with the edges of the pieces or strips. The object of this is to allow the ends of the pieces or strips to'be in contact with each other when the plate d is depressed, as will be hereinafter referred to.

The operation is as follows: A sheet-metal plate, Z, (shown in blue,) is cut of the required size, which size is equal to the area of the plate d and distended side pieces, e, of the lower die, G. (See Fig. l.) The die G is kept in an elevated position by the springs h when the die F is raised. When the plate Zis placed on the lower die, G, as shownk in Fig. 1, the upper die, F, is depressed by turning the cam D, which operation is effected by levers m, attached to the end of the shaft E. When the plate or bottom a of the die F strikes the plate Z, the die G is forced downward, and the side pieces, e, as the plates c d descend, are pressed inward in consequence of the bearing of their outer edges against the guides t', and the edges of the plate Z will be bent by the side pieces e against the sides b of the upper die, F, and when the upper die,F,is fully de pressed the upper parts c of the sides b will bend over the upper parts of the sides of the plate, as shown clearly in Fig. 4. In thus bending the plate Z it will be seen that the superfluous metal at the corners of said plate Z, or what may now be termed the body of the pan or vessel, will be compressed, and will project out from the body, as shown clearly at n in Fig. 6. When the levers m m are relieved or set free, the die G will rise by the action of the springs 71., the body of the pan or vessel is removed, and another plate placed on the die G for a succeeding operation.

j My invention is as follows: On the base A two uprights, H H, are secured. Between these two uprights H H two cross-heads, o o, are tted and connected by a vertical bar, I. The cross-heads are allowed to work freely up and down between the uprights H H, and the lower cross-head is connected by a rod, J, with a treadle, K. The upper cross-head is connected bya link, @with a spring,L,which has a tendency to keep the cross-heads 0 o elevated.

To the lower end of the bar I a block, q, is attached, as shown clearly in Figs. l and 2, and to this block the upper ends of two arms, r r, are pivoted. The lower ends of the arms r are pivotod to the lower ends of levers L'L, which work on pivots or fulcrum-pins s, which are fitted in a fixed horizontal bar, M, attached to the uprights H H, a pin s being near each end of the bar M. The upper ends of the levers L L are provided with lips or jaws t, one on each lever. These lips or jaws form right angles with the levers L, and when the treadle l K is depressed they are forced over the upper surfaces of blocks or beds N, which are attached to or formed on a horizontal bar, O, attached to the uprights H H. It will be seen that the levers L L are actuated as the bar I is depressed by the arms 1'1.

, After the body of the pan is formed as previously described, its ends are fitted or placed over the blocks or beds N, as shown in blue, Figs. 1 and 2, and, the treadle K being then depressed by the foot, the levers L L are moved or actuated, and the lips or jaws t are forced over the blocks 0r bedsN and bend and press down snugly the projections n against .the sides of the body of the pan or vessel, as shown in red, Fig. 6.

Tovcomplete the pan or vessel, the upper ends of its sides require to be wired. This is effected as follows: To the upper ends of theY uprights H H bearings c c are attached. In these bearings the aXes of a segment pressurebar, l?, are fitted. This bar transversely is of segment form, as shown clearly in Fig. 1, and is connected by arms w t`o its axes or journals. The bar l? is connected by a link, ax, to the bar I, and two inclined or beveled projections, bx, are attached to the upper end of the bar I, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Between the two bearings c v a bar, Q., is placed. The ends of this bar are provided with journals cx. The lower front edge of the bar Q has a longitudinal rabbet or gain, ZZX, made in it, as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 7. The journals c are placed at the lower parts of the ends of the bar Q, and near its front side, so that the center of motion of the bar Q or the line of its axis will be at the lower part of the front side of the bar, as shown at eK in 1:)irectly below the bar Q a fixed horizontal bar or bed, R, is placed. This bar or bed is attached to the uprights H H.

The wire S is bent in quadrilateral form, as shown in Fig. 8, and is placed underneaththe upper bent edges of the sides ofthe pan or vessel, and these upper edges are placed (one at a time, of course) upon the bed R and below the segment-bar P, yas shown clearly in Fig. '7. The treadle K is then depressed, and

the bar I, as it descends, throws the segmentbar P down, in consequence of the attachment of the bar I to the segment-bar P by means of the link ax. This bar P forces the bent edge of the side of the pan or vessel Z, and also the wire, into the recess or gain (ZX in the bar Q, as shown in red, Fig. 7, and when in thisposition the bed R is moved outward by the action of the link, and at the same time the oblique sides of the projections bx will actuate the bar Q and cause the edge f at the upper part of the gain to clew the edge of the side of the pan or vessel snugly over the wire, as shown in red, Fig. 1. The edges of the four sides of the pan or vessel are closed successively around the wire, and the pan or vessel is then completed.

The device for swaging the body of the pan or vessel, and also the wiring device, are necessarily describedA in this specification, for they are both essential in order to complete the work; but, as these devices are not operated conjointly, the swaging and wiring de,

vices legitimately form subjects for separate l levers working over the blocks or beds N, the applications. Therefore I do not claim such parts being arranged sp'eciicallyasshown, for1 parts in this application. the purpose set forth.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The two levers L L, operated through the Vitnesses: medium of the arms r r, which are attached C. H. PLACE, to the sliding bar I, the lips or jaws t of the F. CAREY.

E. A. SMEAD. 

